Wednesday, 30 January 2013

I talked in yesterday's blog about how one way of dealing with anxious thoughts is to do some blue sky thinking. Today, I want to look at another very effective way of changing how you feel - changing the questions you ask yourself.
When we are feeling anxious we tend to ask ourselves one main question "What if?".....(fill in the blanks)
The majority of the time when we are feeling anxious the "What if" questions that we ask ourselves are just a sign that we are feeling anxious and not a prediction that the worst possible outcome will happen. As we talked about yesterday, just because we have a thought it doesn't mean that the thought is true!
So today there are 2 questions that you can ask yourself when you are caught in the middle of anxiety provoking "what if" questions!
1. Is what I am thinking right now true?
2. What else could this mean?
By all means check out whether your thoughts at any moment are giving you some useful information in which case take relevant action. If you find that you are just in an old pattern of unhelpful anxious thinking then by asking "Is this true" and "What else could this mean" you are then changing the meaning of your thoughts and helping to break the cycle of anxious thoughts leading to feeling anxious, more anxious thoughts and so on!

Tuesday, 29 January 2013

I was walking along the beach the other day... the sky was blue and the sun was shining...as I walked passed people they were generally smiling and saying "hi".Contrast that with many of the cold windy and overcast days of late and passing dog walkers are much less likely to share a smile and say "hi" more interested in getting back home out of the cold and wind as soon as possible.
How does this relate to when you are worrying a lot and feeling anxious and panicky, not quite able to relax?
We think thousands of thoughts a day - some make us feel good, some neutral and some not so great. How we feel depends on which of those thoughts that we are choosing to focus on and buy into. Until we put attention on any thoughts all of them are equal. By the way just because we think a thought does it make it true? Of course not! But when we are feeling low already it is easy to buy into and believe all the negative thoughts we are having, discounting all the positive ones. If we do that enough we can go from having a few anxious thoughts to taking on the identity of being an anxious person which makes it a lot more difficult to get out of the negative cycle of thinking the negative thoughts leading to feeling anxious and then behaving differently to try and either prove those thoughts wrong or to try and not think them.
So ...my first tip for you if you are having a lot of anxious thoughts is to do some mindfulness and some blue sky thinking. What I mean by that is imagine that your mind is the blue sky...and your thoughts are the clouds in the sky...some positive and some negative but like the clouds in the sky our thoughts always pass. The aim of doing this is to start observing your thoughts positive and negative without buying into them and believing them. Realise that no matter how many anxious thoughts you are having, they do pass. By doing this you can begin to break the chain of one anxious thought leading to another and another and another....they just become thoughts that don't mean anything apart from the fact that you are thinking!
Try that out and let me know how you get on!
Part 2 coming soon!

Friday, 25 January 2013

One of the perks of presenting my radio show is that I get the opportunity to interview world leading coaches and experts in business and lifestyle.
I thought I would share this interview that I did with Ultimate Performance Specialist Joseph McClendon. In this interview Joseph talks about the importance of deciding what it is that you want, taking continued action, dealing with negative emotions that stop you and making sure that you have the energy to follow through.
I agree with Joseph. A really great way to get inspired to move past feelings of fear and procrastination is to ask yourself "why do I want this" and brainstorm all the reasons why you want the thing you want. When you have enough reasons then you will stay more inspired and be more motivated to get past the emotions that may have stopped you in the past.

In today's 24-7 society it can be easy to get swept away with busy-ness which in turn can lead to it being more difficult to relax and sleep at night. Over a prolonged period of time this can lead to increased levels of stress and anxiety which in some cases can lead to feeling of panic. As a start on this topic I thought I would share a few of my tips on what you can do if you are feeling anxious and stressed to become more relaxed.

Realise
that you are not the anxiety you feel.
You may sometimes have anxious thoughts and feelings but equally there
are times when you feel different emotions for example happy, excited, sad,
proud etc. Realise that just like every
other emotion anxiety also passes.

Do
something each day to challenge your fear.
Just taking small steps and facing your fear will make a huge difference
to your life. Fear can only remain when
you avoid what it is you are scared of and never challenge the thoughts and
feelings that you have

When
feeling anxious over a period it can affect your mood and your belief in your
ability to do certain things. Make an
effort to focus on what you want and take actions towards that each day.

When
feeling anxious and having anxious thoughts practice observing your thoughts
and feelings rather than buying into and believing them. Practicing Mindfulness is a great way to do
this.

Do
some exercise. Even if that means just
going for a walk exercise can help you to feel more positive.

Keep
a diary which shows your progress in overcoming your fears. This will help you keep momentum and focus on
the positive steps that you are taking.

You
can change how you feel by changing your physiology (how you move and breathe),
your focus and your language (the questions that you are asking yourself). Notice the difference of what you do when you
are feeling great and when you are feeling anxious. Next time you are feeling negative change
your physiology, focus and questions you ask yourself, maybe remember a time
when you felt great and see how you feel!

Hello! It has been a while since I have posted here! I have been busy working with clients helping them to overcome anxiety and panic and I am continuing to work with businesses to raise their profile and get media coverage. I have continued presenting my Be Inspired radio shows live on 3TFM radio. There are lots of great guests lined up so look out for details soon and have a listen to some of my previous interviews
I have also been writing the lifestyle column for Spizz Magazine and I am pleased to announce that I am now also writing for The Irvine Herald!
I am going to be updating my blog regularly with lots of information on how to deal with anxiety and panic and also for businesses how to most effectively raise your profile and get people talking about your business. Feel free to follow my blog to get the latest updates!

Welcome to my blog!

Sign Up to my Mailing List!

About Me

Listen online to the The Wellbeing Show with me on UWS Radio every Monday 5pm-6pm UK time or on digital radio across SW Scotland. The show aims to be educational, informative and raise the profile of mental health issues.
I facilitate confidence building and stress busting workshops for organisations and community groups and also do one to one client sessions .
I also coaches businesses on how to do their own PR and raise their profile.